Category Archives: Au Pair Tips

5 Thanksgiving Tips for Au Pairs & Host Parents

November 15, 2017 – 9:00 am

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. Even though a few other countries also celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s still considered a uniquely American holiday, one that the au pairs look forward to experiencing. You can learn more about it here.

“I really enjoyed Thanksgiving with my host family. It was as I imagined! So much food to try. Everyone got dressed up and shared what they were thankful for. It was so warm and special. The next day we began to prepare for Christmas. It was magical.” Selina from Germany

Below you will find some tips to help you have a terrific Thanksgiving experience.

Host Parents

1. Please plan to include your au pair in your Thanksgiving celebration, if at all possible. Thanksgiving with an au pair offers an opportunity to consider the relevance of the history and meaning of Thanksgiving as you compare the hospitality offered by the Native Americans to the recently arrived Pilgrims and the hospitality you offer your au pair.

2. If you are traveling or will not be able to invite your au pair to join you for Thanksgiving, give her plenty of notice and help her make alternate plans. You don’t want to leave your au pair alone over the holiday.

Au Pairs

3. If you are invited to attend dinner, please let your family know within 5 days of the invitation, whether you are planning to attend. It is considered rude in America to accept the invitation for dinner and then change your mind later in the month. Please be thoughtful.

4. Make sure to discuss time off during this holiday weekend. Many host families work the Friday after Thanksgiving so do not assume you have this day off or the entire weekend. Talk to your host family, BEFORE you make any plans.

5. If your host family is unable to include you in their Thanksgiving plans, please let me know if you have trouble making other plans. You may be able to join a friend and their host family for the holiday dinner.

Bonus Tip for the Kids

If you are looking for a fun recipe to make with your au pair, check out these turkey cupcakes. Find more fun activities and recipes on the Au Pair in America Fall Holidays pinboard.

Photo: Tim Sackton (Flickr)

Hints for Success – Overcoming Homesickness

July 17, 2017 – 8:40 am

Almost everyone experiences homesickness and culture shock to some degree, when they come to live in a completely new environment. So much is different and it takes time to adjust.

It is normal to miss your own family, at home. Try to remember that they support you and want you to make the most of this experience. They will enjoy learning more about the U.S., through your eyes, as you share your adventures with them.

Top 5 Tips for Dealing with Homesickness

1. Make Friends – Don’t wait for other au pairs to reach out to you, reach out to them. There are other lots of new au pairs who are feeling the same way you are right now. Set a goal to reach out to a few of them each day. Some will respond and some will not. Don’t let that discourage you. No one will ever be mad at you for sending them a message to say hello or ask if they want to do something together. Make friends from various countries and you will also get a chance to practice your English skills together.

2. Stay in touch with your home country, but not too much. Skyping or talking on the phone every day with your family and/or friends back home normally makes homesickness worse. Try emailing instead and reduce the Skype and phone calls to once a week, until you feel stronger. It’s much harder seeing the faces and hearing the voices of those you miss.

3. Get out of the house (or your room specifically) – Go to cluster meetings, have coffee or movies with other au pairs, join a gym, go to the library, go for a walk, visit the mall, get a manicure, visit a museum. If someone invites you out, say “yes.” Also, don’t be afraid to do the inviting. If your host family invites you to do things with them, say “yes.” This will help you get to know each other and contribute to your overall happiness.

4. Realize that it definitely gets better – All au pairs experience homesickness and the vast majority of them get through it, stay and have a successful year (some even extend for a second year!) So, it must get better, right? Once you get past the initial homesickness, most au pairs report how quickly the year goes by.

5. Make Plans – Create your own Au Pair Bucket List (places you want to go, new foods to try, new things to experience during your year in the U.S.) and start doing them now. Post on our cluster Facebook group to find others who may want to join you on your adventures.

Photo by: Shimelle Laine (Flickr)

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Preventing Dehydration in Hot Weather

June 15, 2017 – 4:53 pm

Dehydration means that the body lacks the necessary amount of fluid. Infants and small children are more likely to become dehydrated than older children or adults, because they can lose relatively more fluid quickly.

Here are some steps to take to make sure children remain hydrated in the summer months:

Encourage your child to drink plenty of water. On hot days, children should drink significantly more water than usual, as they are losing more due to the heat.
Do not wait until your child is thirsty to give him water. By the time they feel thirsty, they are already becoming dehydrated.
If your child is resistant to drinking enough water, have other liquids on hand for your child to drink throughout the day.
Be alert to changes in behavior. A child may act confused or more irritable when they are becoming dehydrated/overheated. Get them into cooler temperatures and drinking more fluids.
Dress your child in lightweight clothing in the summer months, particularly if she’ll be playing outdoors in warm weather. You may also consider clothes that are well ventilated as they do not trap heat close to the body.
When there are heat and/or air quality advisories because the weather is dangerously hot, you should avoid taking the children outdoors. Check with your host parents for further guidance on this topic.

Remember to follow these tips for yourself too, so you stay well hydrated.

Photo: Darwin Bell (Flickr)

Holiday & Vacation Reminders

May 15, 2017 – 1:25 pm

“Rest and be thankful.” – William Wordsworth

Holidays and vacations are a great opportunity to rest, recharge and explore the U.S.

Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer travel season. Here are some reminders about program rules regarding holidays and vacations.

Holidays

Host families are not required to give au pairs any specific holidays.
Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
Au pairs should not make plans for holidays without checking with your host family first.

Vacations

Au pairs earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
Vacation time should be mutually agreed upon.
All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing tickets.
If an au pair travels with her host family, it should be discussed in advance whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: If an au pair is traveling outside of the U.S., she must have her DS2019 signed (travel validation) PRIOR to her departure from the US. More information about this may be found here on the Au Pair in America website.

Photo: torbakhopper (Flickr)

Helping Young Children Learn Language

March 15, 2017 – 11:00 am

Being an au pair is an important role in a child’s life. When you are caring for a young child up to 45 hours per week, there are lots of opportunities to help them learn language. Many host parents are eager for their children to be exposed to foreign language. If this is true of your host parents, you can try the suggestions below, in both English and your native language.

Below are a few tips to start with, for more ideas, check out Ready at Five.

Read – Read to them daily, point out pictures and ask questions. Even if they can’t answer the questions, this is still modeling conversation.
Talk – Point out objects around them, names of their body parts, explain what you are doing and places you are going. Long before babies can speak, they benefit greatly from being spoken to.
Sing – You can sing childhood classics or make up your own silly songs. If you are looking for song ideas, HERE is a great website with lists of songs, lyrics and links to YouTube videos* of the songs. Children’s music is also available at the public library and even on iTunes.
Words – As children move from toddlers to preschoolers begin to point out written language.
Writing – Toddlers and preschoolers can begin to learn pre-writing skills by drawing with crayons or doing finger paints.

*The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for babies under 18 months of age. For children 18 months to 5 years they recommend no more than 1 hour of high quality content. You can play the songs on youtube for the audio and not necessarily show the screen to the child.

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski (Flickr)

Handling Expenses

February 15, 2017 – 2:22 pm

Host parents often ask for suggestions on how best to handle common expenses that occur as au pairs are caring for the children.

Miscellaneous Expenses

There are different ways to handle the little day to day expenses that come up. Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk. Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for these types of expenses. Others give their au pair a prepaid debit card for this purpose. Below are some suggestions for avoiding problems with expenses.

Host Families

It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

Only spend the money on approved expenses.
If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs: to and from classes, cluster meetings and when driving the kids.

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance. If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times. You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

Photo: Andrea Travillian

Crepes & Taxes for March Au Pair Cluster Meeting

March 14, 2016 – 1:32 am

On Sunday, March 13 the Suffolk Cluster from Au Pair in America met at Crazy Crepe in Mt. Sinai. Everyone had a crepe and a soft drink or coffee while we reviewed how to fill out their tax returns. Au Pairs who made more than $4000 in their stipend earnings in 2015 had to pay taxes on what they earned.

We also had a raffle for wearing their APIA t-shirt, 4 au pairs won gift cards to Starbucks!

We wished Dayanna a safe return to Mexico after spending 2 years as an au pair in Hampton Bays! We all enjoyed spending time together and look forward to our next cluster activity, seeing Rock of Ages on Broadway in April!

Halloween Safety Tips

October 28, 2015 – 4:41 pm

Ana carves pumpkin with her host kids!

Kids must trick or treat with an adult, HAVE FUN AND TRICK OR TREAT WITH YOUR HOST KIDS! (even if you are going to a party later!)

Stay in familiar neighborhoods

Walk, don’t run

Stay on sidewalks if possible

Obey traffic signals, walk on the left side of the road facing traffic

Don’t cut across yards or driveways

Only go to homes that have lights on, never go inside a house of a stranger

Carry a flashlight, wear reflective markings or tape

Make sure costumes do not drag on the floor and wear shoes that fit, even if they don’t match the costume

Good makeup job is better than a mask that might obstruct your vision

Carry only flexible knives, swords or other props

Stay away from pets you don’t know

Check the candy before eating, better yet let the parents decide what the kids can eat

Other ways to have Halloween Fun

Help the kids (and you) plan/make/buy your costumes

Decorate the house for Halloween

Read age appropriate Halloween stories with your host kids

Watch an age appropriate Halloween DVD with your host kids

Have a costume contest

Help hand out candy to the Trick or Treaters

Trick or Treat for a good cause, like UNICEF

Carve or paint pumpkins with your host family

Go to the kid’s school if they have a Halloween activity like a costume parade or party that family can attend

Go to a farm, pick pumpkins, walk through a corn maze, go to a haunted house (again that might be just fun with your au pair friends – sometimes too scary for kids

Enjoy Halloween with your host family and your friends!

Annual Au Pair in America NYC Scavenger Hunt

October 26, 2015 – 8:35 am

A wonderful day was spent in NYC with over 200 au pairs from Au Pair in America. All of these au pairs live on Long Island, NYC, Westchester or Connecticut. 20 Community Counselors from APIA organized the event and met the au pairs on the steps of the main NYC library. They had a list of 30 items to find! 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th prize certificates and prizes were awarded. 6 au pairs won raffles prizes for wearing their APIA t-shirt.

This activity is a lot of fun for everyone involved. The au pairs learn a lot about NYC and many return to take a closer look at the items on the list in future visits to NYC. APIA Community Counselors arrange monthly meetings for their cluster of au pairs. Some are educational meetings and some are cultural activities. All these meetings foster friendships between au pairs and give them opportunities to learn more about the communities within in which they reside with host families.

Happy Father’s Day Host Dads!

June 18, 2015 – 7:31 pm

Suffolk County Au Pair in America Au Pairs really have great Host Dads. Some au pairs wanted to let us know how much they admire their host fathers with the comments below:

My host dad is a good host dad because he makes me feel at home and as a part of his family.

My host dad is a good host dad because he always teaches children to play sports and how telling the truth is important!

My host dad is great because he has mean banter and the same sense of humor as me.

What I have learned from my Host dad is that children need love and boundaries to turn into great people one day.

My host dad is a good host dad because he is so patient and always take time with kids.

My host dad is a good host dad cause especially when I am sad he makes fun to make me laugh and smile.

My host dad knows how to make my wishes true. We are going to the US Open 2015 together ;).

My hostdad is an amazing dad. He cares for his children and wants to spent as much time as possible with them. With me he is the same way. It feels like I am really important to him and he wants me to be happy. I am glad to have a host dad like him. He is just great.

My host dad is a good host dad because he is always ready to help with anything I need, and answer any of my questions. He is smart and funny and he is a great father. His children are lucky to have him.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO AU PAIR IN AMERICA HOST DADS!